Windows Registry Utilities? Any Good?

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Does anyone have experience of GlaryUtilities? It includes both a registry cleaner and a registry defrag. Any comments on the usefulness or otherwise of these particular tools?

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I have no experience with this program. It might well contain useful components, but in the product overview my eye was struck by

[indent]”Memory Optimizer
Monitors and optimizes free memory in the background”

[/indent]All recent versions of Windows have memory management built-in, a third-party utility that interferes with this will probably have a negative effect.

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I have no experience with this program. It might well contain useful components, but in the product overview my eye was struck by

[indent]”Memory Optimizer
Monitors and optimizes free memory in the background”

[/indent]All recent versions of Windows have memory management built-in, a third-party utility that interferes with this will probably have a negative effect.

This was the second post in the thread, but on running across it MY eye was struck by ‘Windows’… ‘built-in’. For those looking for an easy, if debatable and certainly modest performance gain, why not give Windows’ own ReadyBoost a try? All you need is a flash drive (4 GB is fine, but if you have 8 the amount reserved will probably be a little over 4). It should support ReadyBoost, which not all flash drives do. Note that this memory employs the user’s history (something mentioned in a different post), so if you can do so, plug it in, set it up, and leave it in place, to let it learn your usage patterns. It’s about the least expensive boost you can get if it works for you, and if it doesn’t work or you need it for other uses, you can de-activate ReadyBoost and use it for storage. Chances are you already have one on hand, and it won’t cost a penny to try.

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So called memory optimizers defeat the purpose of Windows memory management. The way they “optimize” memory is usually to request a large amount of memory causing Windows to determine which parts of memory are available to be freed and then free the RAM. In addition to just freeing RAM the request could cause page file usage. One of the tenents of Windows memory management is that users tend to do the same tasks over and over. Therefore, Windows does not release memory until it needs to thus when a user requests a program or function that was used relatively recently there is a good chance it is already in RAM and does not have to be loaded from disk.

Anything that requires disk usage such as page file access or loading a program is extremely slow compared to RAM access.

BTW, I had Glary Utilities installed for a while some time ago. I found I NEVER used the program beyond looking at it when I first installed it.

Joe

--Joe

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So called memory optimizers defeat the purpose of Windows memory management. The way they “optimize” memory is usually to request a large amount of memory causing Windows to determine which parts of memory are available to be freed and then free the RAM. In addition to just freeing RAM the request could cause page file usage. One of the tenents of Windows memory management is that users tend to do the same tasks over and over. Therefore, Windows does not release memory until it needs to thus when a user requests a program or function that was used relatively recently there is a good chance it is already in RAM and does not have to be loaded from disk.

Anything that requires disk usage such as page file access or loading a program is extremely slow compared to RAM access.

BTW, I had Glary Utilities installed for a while some time ago. I found I NEVER used the program beyond looking at it when I first installed it.

Joe

What are your thoughts regarding Glary’s Registry Cleaner and Registry Defrag?

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What are your thoughts regarding Glary’s Registry Cleaner and Registry Defrag?

If I can comment here, I think that you will find that most here will discourage the use of any Registry Cleaners. I have yet to see ANY objective and documented proof (apart from the manufacturers’ claims of course) that a registry cleaner provides any noticeable or actual measured improvement in system performance, especially with the latest operating systems such as Vista or Windows 7. Oh sure, some will say that their system “seems to run faster” after the use of a cleaner, but show me the proof.

On the other hand, there have been many instances where applications and even entire systems have been rendered inoperative by the injudicious use of these tools. If you must run a registry cleaner, the one included with CCleaner seems to be the least intrusive and the safest.

Obviously this is a personal choice, but I don’t think that the (questionable) rewards outweigh the possible and very real risks.

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If I can comment here, I think that you will find that most here will discourage the use of any Registry Cleaners. I have yet to see ANY objective and documented proof (apart from the manufacturers’ claims of course) that a registry cleaner provides any noticeable or actual measured improvement in system performance, especially with the latest operating systems such as Vista or Windows 7. Oh sure, some will say that their system “seems to run faster” after the use of a cleaner, but show me the proof.

On the other hand, there have been many instances where applications and even entire systems have been rendered inoperative by the injudicious use of these tools. If you must run a registry cleaner, the one included with CCleaner seems to be the least intrusive and the safest.

Obviously this is a personal choice, but I don’t think that the (questionable) rewards outweigh the possible and very real risks.

I agree completely. I never run a registry cleaner on a regular basis any more. The only time I’d even try one is if the PC had some error that I could attribute to a registry problem. Even then I’d be very careful.

Joe

--Joe

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Hello to All!
I’m tired of arguing with my friends. Do any of you Loungers know of any Windows Registry “Cleaners” or “Optimizers” that really do any good? Frankly, I feel that they promise a lot, but deliver little. In some cases the results they produce may be irritating or downright dangerous. Anyone have an opinion one way or the other? Any product names?
Thanks,
FourEyes

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… Anyone have an opinion one way or the other? Any product names?

I agree with Tony and because I’m conservative, disbelieving and fearful, I don’t use any such utilities, relying solely on the tools that are within Windows.

But to be fair, as you’ll see in the thread Tony linked to, it seems the most “popular” cleanup program here in The Lounge is CCleaner[/url], getting many mentions in threads.

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I believe that these kind of utilities do more harm than good. I have heard of many problems caused by registry cleaners, and I have never seen any evidence of the benefits that some people claim.

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I agree with the previous posters. I’ve yet to see any quantifiable evidence that runing a registry cleaner regularly does any good on a modern Windows system.

Joe

--Joe

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I’m tired of arguing with my friends. Do any of you Loungers know of any Windows Registry “Cleaners” or “Optimizers” that really do any good? Frankly, I feel that they promise a lot, but deliver little. In some cases the results they produce may be irritating or downright dangerous. Anyone have an opinion one way or the other? Any product names?

Okay, I’ll play the “odd man out” on this one with a qualifier.

I do believe that Registry cleaners are beneficial if for no other reason that they remove orphaned and corrupt Registry entries. Whether removing them speeds things up I cannot say and that is of little importance to me since my system is faster than I am already. Now, the qualifier. Put into the hands of a novice who thinks they are more knowledgeable than they really are, which probably includes the majority of computer owners, trouble is around the corner. Unless you understand what the Registry is, how it works, the inter-relations of its contents… leave it alone.

Now, as BigAl mentioned, CCleaner’s Registry utility is quite safe to use by most everyone. Can it make a mistake and remove something it shouldn’t? You betcha. Is it likely that it will? Probably not. And, like most Registry cleaners, it does have the ability to do a backup first.

Other than CCleaner’s baby Registry utility the only other one I would trust and thus recommend to those qualified to use it is jv16 PowerTools. It’s Registry cleaner utility when left at its default level or changed to being “safer” is probably the best around and safest, which does NOT mean that anyone can simply click a button and think everything is fine. But IF one is determined to clean the Registry, these two programs are worth considering due to their integrity.

Okay, bring it on boys! hahaha

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I do believe that Registry cleaners are beneficial if for no other reason that they remove orphaned and corrupt Registry entries. . . . . . Okay, bring it on boys! hahaha

Well, I’m not going to “bring it on”, but I will ask a few questions:
1) What is the measurable benefit to my system in removing “orphaned and corrupt Registry entries”?
2) What danger or detriment do “orphaned and corrupt Registry entries” pose to my system?

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Well, I’m not going to “bring it on”, but I will ask a few questions:
1) What is the measurable benefit to my system in removing “orphaned and corrupt Registry entries”?
2) What danger or detriment do “orphaned and corrupt Registry entries” pose to my system?

Well, first of all I thought my response was quite “balanced”, i.e., I am NOT some “registry cleaner fanboy” nor one of the “registry cleaner deniers” as PaulB chirped.

Secondly, does everything done on a PC have to have a measurable benefit? What I do not like and will not have on my systems are such things as orphaned context menu items after installing some software, which is a Registry item. And, I’m not about to spend the time providing a list of all the things which are contained in the Registry which do not belong there after software is uninstalled, which involves most software. I suppose the removal of these types of things could be classified as a measurable benefit.

Thirdly, I cannot give you a definitive answer to what detriment such orphaned and/or corrupt Registry items pose to my system, but they are a detriment to my peace of mind knowing there is garbage cluttering up a very sensitive part of a Windows system. I consider them to be in the same league as Temp files, aka: garbage. Call me neatnik or some other pejorative if you like but my systems have never been negatively affected from my occasional cleaning out of the Registry over many years.

Lastly, I want to stress again… IF one is not knowledgeable about the workings of the Registry, at least to recognize what should not be removed should something important is included in the list of items to delete or fix, then they should not use such a program. I am not one of those and thus I have chosen to keep the Registry on all my systems clean via the use of CCleaner and jv16 PowerTools. ALL my systems are extremely fast, reliable and a joy to use. YMMV

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Well, first of all I thought my response was quite “balanced”, i.e., I am NOT some “registry cleaner fanboy” nor one of the “registry cleaner deniers” as PaulB chirped.

Secondly, does everything done on a PC have to have a measurable benefit? What I do not like and will not have on my systems are such things as orphaned context menu items after installing some software, which is a Registry item. And, I’m not about to spend the time providing a list of all the things which are contained in the Registry which do not belong there after software is uninstalled, which involves most software. I suppose the removal of these types of things could be classified as a measurable benefit.

Thirdly, I cannot give you a definitive answer to what detriment such orphaned and/or corrupt Registry items pose to my system, but they are a detriment to my peace of mind knowing there is garbage cluttering up a very sensitive part of a Windows system. I consider them to be in the same league as Temp files, aka: garbage. Call me neatnik or some other pejorative if you like but my systems have never been negatively affected from my occasional cleaning out of the Registry over many years.

Lastly, I want to stress again… IF one is not knowledgeable about the workings of the Registry, at least to recognize what should not be removed should something important is included in the list of items to delete or fix, then they should not use such a program. I am not one of those and thus I have chosen to keep the Registry on all my systems clean via the use of CCleaner and jv16 PowerTools. ALL my systems are extremely fast, reliable and a joy to use. YMMV

Jeff,
First of all, I would never call you a “pejorative” – heck – I don’t even know what the word means!
Second, in answer to “does everything done on a PC have to have a measurable benefit?” – I simply believe (maybe naively) that if I’m going to run any sort of software utility which purports to enhance the performance and reliability of my system, then YES – I DO expect there to be some measureable benefit or some obvious improvement in the way my system performs following the use of such a utility. If not, then I really can’t think of any valid or logical reason for using such a tool.

But if you are “measureably” happier after using these tools, then that’s fine.

As for me, I too will continue to enjoy my “extremely fast, reliable and a joy to use” systems in spite of the “garbage” which my registries have acccumulated.

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Okay, I’ll play the “odd man out” on this one with a qualifier.

I do believe that Registry cleaners are beneficial if for no other reason that they remove orphaned and corrupt Registry entries. Whether removing them speeds things up I cannot say and that is of little importance to me since my system is faster than I am already. Now, the qualifier. Put into the hands of a novice who thinks they are more knowledgeable than they really are, which probably includes the majority of computer owners, trouble is around the corner. Unless you understand what the Registry is, how it works, the inter-relations of its contents… leave it alone.

Now, as BigAl mentioned, CCleaner’s Registry utility is quite safe to use by most everyone. Can it make a mistake and remove something it shouldn’t? You betcha. Is it likely that it will? Probably not. And, like most Registry cleaners, it does have the ability to do a backup first.

Other than CCleaner’s baby Registry utility the only other one I would trust and thus recommend to those qualified to use it is jv16 PowerTools. It’s Registry cleaner utility when left at its default level or changed to being “safer” is probably the best around and safest, which does NOT mean that anyone can simply click a button and think everything is fine. But IF one is determined to clean the Registry, these two programs are worth considering due to their integrity.

Okay, bring it on boys! hahaha

So I’ll chime in on the side of reg cleaners as I always have.
People say, “what are the benefits”, “show me the increase in speed or whatever”?
So far as I’m concerned, my benefit is knowing that the reg in my system isn’t bloated with old, unused lines of dead keys and it doesn’t read like a list of every program ever written. ( slight exaggeration regarding the list )

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So I’ll chime in on the side of reg cleaners as I always have.
People say, “what are the benefits”, “show me the increase in speed or whatever”?
So far as I’m concerned, my benefit is knowing that the reg in my system isn’t bloated with old, unused lines of dead keys and it doesn’t read like a list of every program ever written. ( slight exaggeration regarding the list )

Now isn’t that a VERY compelling argument ! I’ll certainly have to remember that the next time I’m bored and decide to sit down and read through every registry entry in my system. But then again, . . . . that probably won’t happen. I do have better things to do than trying to justify the use of tools which, when used, have absolutley NO impact on my system (and I know – I know – “that’s why personal computers are called personal”).

Everyone is certainly entitled to their “opinions” Bob. I guess I’m just one of those (and maybe I’m in the minority) who has decided to use those tools which will provide an ACTUAL and MEASUREABLE benefit to my system (rather than a PERCIEVED or IMAGINARY “benefit”).

If those who say “what are the benefits”, “show me the increase in speed or whatever”? are being too demanding or unrealistic or unreasonable in their demands, then I would certainly class myself as being one of those “unreasonable” people.

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Now isn’t that a VERY compelling argument ! I’ll certainly have to remember that the next time I’m bored and decide to sit down and read through every registry entry in my system. But then again, . . . . that probably won’t happen. I do have better things to do than trying to justify the use of tools which, when used, have absolutley NO impact on my system (and I know – I know – “that’s why personal computers are called personal”).

Everyone is certainly entitled to their “opinions” Bob. I guess I’m just one of those (and maybe I’m in the minority) who has decided to use those tools which will provide an ACTUAL and MEASUREABLE benefit to my system (rather than a PERCIEVED or IMAGINARY “benefit”).

If those who say “what are the benefits”, “show me the increase in speed or whatever”? are being too demanding or unrealistic or unreasonable in their demands, then I would certainly class myself as being one of those “unreasonable” people.

I’m happy for you, John. Really, I am.

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Now isn’t that a VERY compelling argument ! I’ll certainly have to remember that the next time I’m bored and decide to sit down and read through every registry entry in my system. But then again, . . . . that probably won’t happen. I do have better things to do than trying to justify the use of tools which, when used, have absolutley NO impact on my system (and I know – I know – “that’s why personal computers are called personal”).

Everyone is certainly entitled to their “opinions” Bob. I guess I’m just one of those (and maybe I’m in the minority) who has decided to use those tools which will provide an ACTUAL and MEASUREABLE benefit to my system (rather than a PERCIEVED or IMAGINARY “benefit”).

If those who say “what are the benefits”, “show me the increase in speed or whatever”? are being too demanding or unrealistic or unreasonable in their demands, then I would certainly class myself as being one of those “unreasonable” people.

Rebel,
Hello, Just want to jump in and add my 2cents I use jv-16 power tools also periodically remove some parts of my “OS” ex: Windows mail (see my last post in windows vista) when doing so for example you will have approximately (looking at my notes) 507 Orphaned registry entries just in deleting one program alone. And…… jv-16 shows where they are.And of course then you have to take ownership Blah, Blah, Blah, to delete them . So it is not a matter of speed ,just keeping a “Tidy Ship” Regards

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If a computer is getting “slow”, nowadays, it’s certainly not caused by items in the registry (in general).

To get it back to the old “pace, space and grace“, if it for some reason has slowed down significantly, one needs to do something that these registry cleaners don’t: uninstall software.

Then it’s completely different matter that one sometimes must remove or change some items since they are creating a problem during installation or use of software. But that’s troubleshooting not regular maintenance, in my book.

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I agree with you and believe that registry cleaners have limited use. You will find quite a few here are of like mind, for example see the replies to this thread.

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I’ve used registry cleaners for a few years and have found several that I like, one of which is CCleaner, and the other is UniBlue, which I now use. Over the years, I have had only had one instance of a problem, and that was caused by OHS (Operator Head Space). My laptop is 4 years old,( AMD Turion64, 2GB RAM) and weekly I clean it, Cookies, Temp files etc. and the last thing I do is run UniBlue. All I can say is it runs as fast today as when I first bought it.
.

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I’ve used registry cleaners for a few years and have found several that I like, one of which is CCleaner, and the other is UniBlue, which I now use. Over the years, I have had only had one instance of a problem, and that was caused by OHS (Operator Head Space). My laptop is 4 years old,( AMD Turion64, 2GB RAM) and weekly I clean it, Cookies, Temp files etc. and the last thing I do is run UniBlue. All I can say is it runs as fast today as when I first bought it.
.

Are you not confusing registry maintenance with disk/file maintenance? Cookies are not stored in the registry. They are files stored on disk. They should have no effect on your computer’s speed in general, only your browser’s operation (and even that is doubtful). Ditto Temp files. I’m not familiar with UniBlue but while CCleaner does have a (limited) registry component, its strengths lie in its many other clean up facilities.

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Nope not confusing the two at all I started cleaning things about a year or so ago and just kept it up on weekly basis.. Ok Ok sometimes every other week when golfing season is here…

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Well Argus I can’t argue with that. Getting rid of programs that are troublesome can and will do a lot of good, and I do that as well using Revo Uninstaller. But! there are two items that I have that I keep up the maintenance on almost religiously. One of course being my laptop, and as I mentioned earlier it runs as well now as it did when I first bought and got rid of the junk ware on it. The other is my ’99 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 207,000 miles on it, so far no major problems, and a little over 18mpg on the highway. So I guess that tells the story of why I am firm believer in keeping things in order.
Cash for Clunkers? I don’t think so…LOL!

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This topic sure brings out the extremes in opinion, doesn’t it? With the registry cleaner fanboys in one corner, the registry cleaner deniers in another corner and those who think they are doing registry cleaning while really only doing routine disk cleaning in yet another, the OP must be sitting there scratching his head.

So, FourEyes, here’s the scoop. If you use a registry cleaner there is a 50% chance it will improve the performance of your system by 429%, a 50% chance it will give you a sense of peace and contentment while doing no harm at all, and a 50% chance it destroys any hope of ever using your computer again.

Your call!

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So, FourEyes, here’s the scoop. If you use a registry cleaner there is a 50% chance it will improve the performance of your system by 429%, a 50% chance it will give you a sense of peace and contentment while doing no harm at all, and a 50% chance it destroys any hope of ever using your computer again.

Your call!

Well stated Paul! (but your percentages add up to 150%)

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…percentages add up to 150%…

I assumed that was intentional

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I assumed that was intentional

I’m sure it was !

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Well stated Paul! (but your percentages add up to 150%)

Dang, what did I do with the remaining 66.6%???

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I can offer an example of something that will be familiar to a significant number of users who I think will agree that is ‘measurable’ to the extent that ‘infuriating’ is measurable, and that may consume man-years of troubleshooting throughout their user base, but whether or not this is relevant to registry cleaners or not I cannot say.

Without naming names, there are numerous programs that do not clean up after themselves when they are uninstalled. They leave fragments in the form of messages at boot time that something is missing, when, because the program with which it is associated has been uninstalled, is supposed to be missing. I can think of one program that is given as a ‘free sample’ which, if accepted, will actually create a conflict with the same major software vendor’s top-of-the-line program if it is installed and running. There are numerous programs that require a separately-downloadable program just to be fully and properly uninstalled. It isn’t even part of the package, and if you don’t know enough to go looking for it you may waste a lot of time.

There is also the matter of the hijacking wars in which programs appropriate file associations.

Maybe this is all in the wrong thread, and in any case it is a consumer matter that manufacturers themselves should address, but unless someone makes some noise we can at least exchange notes and vote with our software dollars (euros, yen, etc.). There is no doubt in my mind that any utility that can cover this territory will offer a measurable benefit, and that benefit can be measured in money. Troubleshooting costs man-hours, and plenty of them.

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If you do decide to use this or any other registry cleaner, make sure you have backed up your registry and you have a way to boot the system to restore the backup. There are several boot CD sites out there that offer free utilities to boot a dead system and make repairs.

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Perhaps you failed to read Fred Langa’s review and recommendation on registry cleaners, he has written many articles on his subject over the years. Yes they are very useful. If you install and uninstall programs, many useless fragments of entries are left behind in the registry. A cleaned up and compressed registry is a good thing to have, can reduce corruption and speed up the machine. Some here seem to be confused, a memory optimizer program and a registry cleaner utility are two entirely different things, having nothing to do with eachother. In my experience, memory optimizer programs do next to nothing and are a worthless waste of time and money. For years Langa has rated jv16 PowerTools as the best registry cleaner utility. I have tested many over the years and jv16 PowerTools is the best and what I personally use. The current full featured version is not free, but there is an older full version available that is free. The manufacturer, MaceCraft Software, does have a basic freeware version called PowerTools Lite. Langa also highly rated CCleaner which is freeware. A word of warning about jv16 PowerTools, many of the features are intended for advanced users and must be used with caution. I suggest leaving the preset settings at “default” and it will be safe to use. Setting the registry cleaner module to “aggressive” cleaning can cause issues and should be used with caution. This isn’t a real problem though because any changes can be undone and reverted back to where it was.

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Perhaps you failed to read Fred Langa’s review and recommendation on registry cleaners, he has written many articles on his subject over the years. Yes they are very useful. If you install and uninstall programs, many useless fragments of entries are left behind in the registry. A cleaned up and compressed registry is a good thing to have, can reduce corruption and speed up the machine. Some here seem to be confused, a memory optimizer program and a registry cleaner utility are two entirely different things, having nothing to do with eachother. In my experience, memory optimizer programs do next to nothing and are a worthless waste of time and money. For years Langa has rated jv16 PowerTools as the best registry cleaner utility. I have tested many over the years and jv16 PowerTools is the best and what I personally use. The current full featured version is not free, but there is an older full version available that is free. The manufacturer, MaceCraft Software, does have a basic freeware version called PowerTools Lite. Langa also highly rated CCleaner which is freeware. A word of warning about jv16 PowerTools, many of the features are intended for advanced users and must be used with caution. I suggest leaving the preset settings at “default” and it will be safe to use. Setting the registry cleaner module to “aggressive” cleaning can cause issues and should be used with caution. This isn’t a real problem though because any changes can be undone and reverted back to where it was.

Nothing against Fred Langa, but I make a pretty decent living off of people that think that registry cleaners and memory managers are good programs. As a certified tech my advice is if you’re going to use them, learn how to format your drive, partion it and reinstall Windows in its own partition. Just my opinion.

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I make a pretty decent living off of people that think that registry cleaners and memory managers are good programs.

Hi Mike, and Welcome to the Lounge.

I’m sure that you’ll continue to make money repairing these systems. As you’ve pointed out, applications and complete systems continue to be trashed by the use of registry cleaners (when used by those who are not COMPLETELY familiar with the inner workings, functions and dependencies of registry entries – and that includes MOST of us).

I find it simply amazing the number of “knowledgeable” users who “feel” or “are sure” that their systems “run faster” following the use of such utilities. In many posts, I’ve challenged these folks to provide any independent documented and benchmarked evidence that any of these utilities do anything that their manufacturers “claim”, but to date – absolutely nothing – except of course the inevitable responses that the user “knows” that his/her system is more responsive. They can’t measure any improvement – but “I know that they work and I’ll keep recommending them”. I just shake my head!

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I have used them in the past and currently, I find them useful for getting the leftover files out after a uninstall ,I use reg supreme pro witch I think is no longer available, I got it back when Fred mentioned it in the Lang list Plus newsletter.

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OK, with all the arguments. Speed difference not noticeable. Just a note here.

Has anyone looked at the SIZE of their registry, and the effect of cleaning before and after?
Have any of you watched the size of your registry grow over the years as you install and uninstall software, or moved directories and files around?

Long ago when I uninstalled Norton Utilities I found over 400 dead registry entries it left behind. Sloppy.
For the last several years I clean every month or so and regularly find 100 to 300 dead registry entries to clean out.
Now that motivates me.

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I think a Fred Langa is a giant, but he is not alone on Olympus. I have read some of his comments about ‘cleaning’ the Registry, and as I remember (perhaps someone can provide links?) he suggests that they be used ‘for reason.’ That is, when needed to complete a messy un-install. And for this purpose I agree that jv16 is the best. It facilitates manual un-install when needed and used properly. It is a Registry tool that includes a cleaning function.

But.

jv16 is a power tool. And like chain saws and other useful, but potentially dangerous tools, it should not be employed without proper protection and training. I cannot recommend the use of “Registry Cleaners” by “ordinary users” on a regular basis like I can a defrag utility. (even CCleaner) In my opinion, regularly using a “Registry Cleaner for routine maintenance is like shaving with a straight razor. Blood is inevitable.

And why should it be done? Mark Russinovich does not feel the need for Registry cleaning. I know better? I think not.

What everyone should be doing is running ERUNT to perform regular, easily restorable, Registy backups. And if Registry modification is about to be performed, an ERUNT backup should be made first. Get ERUNT here: http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/ Put it to work for you now.

Here is an exchange between Bill Castner and Mark Russinovich on this subject. Well worth reading: http://www.windowsbbs.com/windows-xp/61015-xp-fixes-myth-1-registry-cleaners.html

Here’s Ed Bott: http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=643

So~

Registry Tool- when needed- by someone who understands what is going on and has taken proper precautions- yes.
Registry Cleaner- as an ‘ordinary’ and regularly run utility like defrag- Absolutely not!

And suggesting that “ordinary users” pay good money for a utility that provides no measurable benefit and can actually damage Windows?
You’ve got to be kidding!

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This has been mentioned some times, and discussed here in the Lounge during the years, and it is getting quite boring, if you ask me (even though the Lounge has not seen any “wars” on this matter, as in some other forums).

[…] That is, when needed to complete a messy un-install. […]

I agree with that, troubleshooting that is, I also agree with Bott and Russinovich. And I agree with Joe, in this thread.

As I’ve said before: It’s a big difference between troubleshooting and regular maintenance. I do not see registry cleaning as regular maintenance.

Some people seem to live with old habits from the Win9x era. We have modern operating system nowadays and they can handle large hives. I’ll repeat myself from another thread, below:
If I would use a registry cleaner, that means I would have to trust that the developer of that program knows everything about Windows and how all other programs use Windows’ registry (the trust, as we all know, must be big since the registry is vital, to say the least, to Windows). I also have to assume that the developer knows something about the registry and Windows’ use of it that no one else knows.

Some links to discussions here in the Lounge on this matter:
Windows Registry Utilities? Any Good? (Windows 7 forum – November 2009)
Registry Software Optimizers (Windows XP forum – November 2008)

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I’ll add my 2bits here. Over a year ago, possibly 2 years ago, I paid for the jv16 Power Tools mentioned earlier in this thread. I use it about once a month to clean the registry, besides using cleanmgr.exe sagerun and JkDefrag. I have gotten Windows Secrets Newsletter for a couple years now and I often install and try the different softwares they mention for curiosity sake, so I have a lot of stuff on my computer. Often I only try it one day and then uninstall it if it isn’t pertinent to my work. I use Revo Uninstaller to uninstall most of my programs. My boss does not install half the programs I do, and he does not do maintenance like I do, and he often is complaining of a slow computer, never mind that he has a very nice Dell OptiPlex 755, with 2GB Ram, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2Ghz processor.

I believe in Registry cleaners AND I agree that if you don’t know what you are doing, don’t touch the Registry.

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I have tried any number of registry “cleaners” over the years on different OSs (not yet Win 7 though). Generally I’ve found they do more harm than good. All it takes is one “cleaned” registry entry that in fact is valid and needed, and you start getting outright crashes or wonky behavior that you may not notice immediately. And what good do they really do? I never noticed any faster boot or run times. Really, they just appeal to our mother’s insistence that we clean our rooms from childhood. But now we’re realizing exposure to some germs is a good things.

For my fresh Win 7 configs I’m trying to resist the temptation to “clean” everything possible.

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I have Glary Utilities on my XP/SP3 machine and have noticed NO ill effects. I do like it
that outdated and useless entries are eliminated from the Registry. Having them gone
can only be beneficial.

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I have Glary Utilities on my XP/SP3 machine and have noticed NO ill effects. I do like it
that outdated and useless entries are eliminated from the Registry. Having them gone
can only be beneficial.

Joseph and all the new members just joining us,

This topic of discussion has been going on in the Lounge for years.
There are the ones for reg cleaners ( like me ) and as many anti reg cleaner people.
I can only say use with care but if they work for you…great.
If not… don’t use them

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This topic of discussion has been going on in the Lounge for years.

…and on the internet in general, I suppose. You don’t think we’ll get the last word in on the subject on this forum, eh? I suppose this, as well as a lot of other things PC, boils down to personal preference…some people like Chevy’s and some like Ford’s. Nowadays that’s probably Honda and Toyota!

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…and on the internet in general, I suppose. You don’t think we’ll get the last word in on the subject on this forum, eh? I suppose this, as well as a lot of other things PC, boils down to personal preference…some people like Chevy’s and some like Ford’s. Nowadays that’s probably Honda and Toyota!

You are spot on about this, Mike.
Reg Cleaners, Spam filters, email apps, junk filters, Intel vs. AMD, on and on.

To use a New England phrase: “This is wicked good”.
So why isn’t the rest of the world using it?
It is good to jump in on a discussion and add your own personal preference though. Keeps the old grey matter going.

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Here’s a “newbie” opinion. I agree with Pilgrim and Viking33….cleaning out useless junk and bad
links and whatever HAS to be good for the Registry, whether it makes Windows go faster or not
is not germane. Has anyone actually checked the size of the Registry before and after?

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WooHoo!! Another “Registry Cleaner Or Not?” foodfight.

I’ve used JV16 PowerTools and Registry First Aid for years, nary a problem. Every month hundreds of old or useless entries are cleaned out in everything from uninstalled programs, changed start menu items, ARP cache, MRU’s, etc ad naseum.

Like Pilgrim and others say, get familiar with the registry do’s and dont’s before cleaning, Do not do an ‘aggressive’ cleaning before you’re familiar with the reg (like after a year or two). There’s tons of material on the web about it. Be careful because damage can be done, as in the PC never runs again.

CCleaner and Comodo System Cleaner are two free regcleaners that are non-aggressive.

My Registry hive sizes decrease upon compaction every few months by a few KB to a few MB, especially in
windowssystem32configsoftware
windowssystem32configsystem
windowssystem32configdefault

Personal choice on a personal computer

Win10 Pro 20H2,backups with Macrium Reflect home edition

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From personal experience i have found that “Cleaning” the Registry does far less good than “Defragmenting” the Registry.

Normal disk defragmenters CANNOT defragment the registry because Windows “locks” the registry files.

However, there is a program to defragment the registry and paging files called “PAGEDEFRAG” from the Sysinternals division of Microsoft.
Sysinternals used to be a separate company, but their stuff was so good that MS finally purchased them.

You can either go to the older site Sysinternals.com and be redirected, or to directly to Microsoft’s page Sysinternals page at Microsoft and look for their various utilities.

The one you wish to look for is “PageDefrag” at Microsoft’s PageDefrag page.
This program runs at the next boot (if you tell it to) and defragments the registry and paging files before windows loads (much like CHKDSK /F).

If you have already run this within the last month or so, then there may be little additional improvement possible. You only rarely need to use it, perhaps after MS-Black-Tuesdays (or Reboot-Wednesdays), or afetr any major software upgrade.

On the other hand, if you have NEVER run this before, you might be surprised how many excess registry fragments there are.
I find that even just one single extra fragment will seem to slow things down at least a little.

When you first run PageDefrag, it simply DISPLAYS how many fragments each registry hive is in. If they ALL say “1” fragment, then all is already perfect.
More likely, some or many of the hives may be in multiple fragments. The default behavior if you don’t select anything is to NOT defragment on next boot (so it is “safe” to just take a peek). However, if there are many fragments, you may wish to “Defrag at next Boot”, or you could even defrag at every boot (totoal overkill).

You will probably be surprised how much faster the system will boot (and even program loading times may drop some).

Instead of “Cleaning” the Registry, try “Defragmenting” it 🙂

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Regarding my last post about “PageDefrag”, i forgot to mention that for now it still only supports 32-bit Windows (from XP onwards), but not yet the 64-bit versions of Windows.

If you have an older OS (pre-XP) or you have a 64-bit version of Windows, then the current version of PageDefrag will not work for you 🙁 sorry

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Any Windows user is well advised a few $$$ on imaging software. Bootit NG and Acronis True Image are the best.

Then you can use reg cleaners to your heart’s content. If Ccleaner nukes your OS all you need to do is restore your latest image and you’re home free. Same for viruses, rootkits and botched installs.

Helps to keep your data files on a separate drive or partition as well.

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Any Windows user is well advised a few $$$ on imaging software. Bootit NG and Acronis True Image are the best.

Then you can use reg cleaners to your heart’s content. If Ccleaner nukes your OS all you need to do is restore your latest image and you’re home free. Same for viruses, rootkits and botched installs.

Helps to keep your data files on a separate drive or partition as well.

Amen. BootIt NG is my tool of choice. Having a fresh drive image is a terrific confidence booster. The closest thing to a “registry cleaner” that I will use is Revo Uninstaller. For mundane stuff I just use regedit.

I did some personal testing on a dual boot XP setup. With both installations using exactly the same hardware and apps, there was no noticable difference in speed or responsiveness. The only difference noted was that sooner or later the installation with the “cleaned” registry wouldn’t boot, or boot and then crash, or boot and cause applications to crash or hang.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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I think they are of limited use at best. Even with the slight benefit the amount of harm they can cause is much worse.

Ken

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Just what we needed another cat fight

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The main problem with them now is that Windows 7 has made many Registry entries read-only so they can’t be deleted by the utilities.

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I’ve used both CCleaner and JVPower tools for years without any problems whatsoever.

Registry cleaning/pruning is a staple in my maintainence regimen as important as defragging.

Alot of programs just don’t uninstall properly and your registry accumulates junk entries. Over time it can be contributory to problems.
When registries get cluttered access times suffer
At best it may increase operating system stability and the life span between clean installs.

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what worries me about using a registry cleaner is that even though my system (Win 7 32bit) is working just fine, the cleaners always seem to tell me that I 1500+ bad registry entries (of various types). I have no idea whether deleting all these entries will have a beneficial or DETRIMENTAL affect on my system – hence, I do nothing and simply close the “cleaner” without deleting anything.

Ben

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What exactly do you mean by “measurable”? If you are talking improvement in system speed, then in all likelihood, you won’t be able to measure any performance gain by using a registry cleaner. But if you are talking about removing left-over keys after a supposedly complete “uninstallation” or removing other keys that are orphaned, then the list of unnecessary keys removed by the cleaner is your measure. I suppose a real question is two-fold: (1) was it doing your system any harm to have these keys in the registry in the first place? and (2) does the removal of any of these keys cause any loss of performance or system instability, either immediately or “down the road?”

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What exactly do you mean by “measurable”? If you are talking improvement in system speed, then in all likelihood, you won’t be able to measure any performance gain by using a registry cleaner. But if you are talking about removing left-over keys after a supposedly complete “uninstallation” or removing other keys that are orphaned,”. I suppose a real question is two-fold: (1) was it doing your system any harm to have these keys in the registry in the first place? and (2) does the removal of any of these keys cause any loss of performance or system instability, either immediately or “down the road?”

” If you are talking improvement in system speed, then in all likelihood, you won’t be able to measure any performance gain by using a registry cleaner” – EXACTLY – So why on earth would I purchase (or even download for free) and run such a utility that will NOT improve the performance of my system ? ? ? ?

“if you are talking about removing left-over keys after a supposedly complete “uninstallation” or removing other keys that are orphaned, then the list of unnecessary keys removed by the cleaner is your measure” – And AGAIN – WHY should I be worried about orphaned or unnecessary keys” if they DO NOT NEGATIVELY IMPACT MY SYSTEM ? ? ? Wow – so now I have a lengthy list of unnecessary keys which were removed by “XXXXXX” Registry Cleaner. Now, my system is running no faster or no slower, but I’m really impressed with the list of keys which were removed ! ! ! So what exactly is “measurable” about viewing a list of removed entries which had no impact – positive or negative ? ? ?

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I just joined via Windows Secrets. I must say this site is very impressive. I am just an average (or maybe slightly above average) home user of computers. I can’t positively say that registry cleaners improve system performance but I can say this. My Compaq Presario (now gathering dust in a closet) in the final year that I used it would take nine to ten minutes to get back to the desktop on a restart. I could have a cup of coffee waiting for it to reboot. I installed the free version of JV16 and ran it and the boot time thereafter was cut to less than 5 minutes. I have had a registry cleaner ever since and I run it every few days. Never had any problems with them.

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It can’t hurt to use a reg cleaner and may help. CC Cleaner is good but I like the last free version of Easy Cleaner. It errs on the conservative side. Afterward I use NTREGOPT to compact the Hives.

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WoW! This “debate” just won’t die!

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…and it will continue

As Argus says this subject has been running for years and there are the Fors and there are the Againsts…..neither side will agree so as long as everyone is civil the debate goes on and on.

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Ok guys the ccleaner is and as been the saftest one to use IMHO. Can it be used to BAD effect? Of course it can like any tool in the hands of the untrained or unknowing it can damage your system. However used with care in the correct manner it can and does make your system run much faster and better than before. The major use I put ccleaner to is to clear out temp files and orphaned reg. entrys. the problem with orphaned entrys is that they slow down the system. the more you have the slower your system is to respond to commands.

Like any registry cleaner you must run it multiple times until it returns “no issues found” as clearing one orphaned entry may cause another one to become orphaned. Thereby causing it to need removal. If all programs had uninstallers that removed all reg. entries that ref. the removed program file you would have no need for registry cleaning at all. But that is at best a pipe dream that will NEVER come true!

So the final truth is that:
1. yes reg. cleaners are needed.
2. yes they need to be used VERY carefully.
3. You can do without them if you do not mind your system becoming a lot slower over time.
Just like you can do without a defrag utility and for the same reasion.

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3. You can do without them if you do not mind your system becoming a lot slower over time.

At the risk of repeating the whole argument again. This point 3 of yours is the one that nobody is able to prove.

If this is true then we would all be very keen to find the best registry cleaner and run it regularly, but if this is not true then the registry cleaner has risks and NO REAL BENEFIT.

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At the risk of repeating the whole argument again. This point 3 of yours is the one that nobody is able to prove.

If this is true then we would all be very keen to find the best registry cleaner and run it regularly, but if this is not true then the registry cleaner has risks and NO REAL BENEFIT.

This is VERY easy to prove if you want to take the time to test it as I have. An orphaned reg. entry causes the system to take time to find the ref.file and it will take this time every time it finds the BAD / orphaned entry. the system will timeout on the search, but it will do this search for each orphaned entry that is found.

I had a customer system that had never had any maintenance performed on it. It had ovet 3000 bad entrys in the regestry. Before cleaning the system would barely run at all, taking over a minute to start any file. After cleaning the registry it started files in a few seconds. A major improvement.

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This is VERY easy to prove if you want to take the time to test it as I have. […]

Please send your test results to Ed Bott, I think he might be interested in seeing them.

I think we need to form a queue to this thread; set up some chairs and start selling coffee to all who is waiting to reply.

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The testing I have done has been over the course of years, and is not documented in any formal way. It is however very convincing to me and is easy to repeat. Windows systems do need cleaning as with no maintenance Windows will even stop being able to boot over time!

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The testing I have done has been over the course of years, and is not documented in any formal way. It is however very convincing to me and is easy to repeat. Windows systems do need cleaning as with no maintenance Windows will even stop being able to boot over time!

For which operating systems? Registry handling has changed considerably over time. What was a big performance drag with Win9x & NT 3.x/4.x is nothing with Vista & Win7. I’ve run systems since the registry was introduced and have not felt the need to run a cleaner beginning with Win2k. I’ve NEVER had a system perform anywhere near what you’ve said. My systems at work have averaged two software installation per week either upgrades or new programs to test plus regular uninstalls after testing.

Joe

--Joe

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For which operating systems? Registry handling has changed considerably over time. What was a big performance drag with Win9x & NT 3.x/4.x is nothing with Vista & Win7. I’ve run systems since the registry was introduced and have not felt the need to run a cleaner beginning with Win2k. I’ve NEVER had a system perform anywhere near what you’ve said. My systems at work have averaged two software installation per week either upgrades or new programs to test plus regular uninstalls after testing.

Joe

Just a note to no one in particular but read Fred Langa’s bit on the subject in the latest Windows Secrets Newsletter. The top two lines are quoted here:
—————————————————–

Windows’ System Configuration Utility startup-management tool — AKA Msconfig — depends on Registry data that may be wrong.

One way to clear the clutter from Msconfig is by running a Registry cleaner.
—————————————————-
Etc.

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Tastes great! … Less filling! … Ain’t nobody gonna win this argument. Let it rest before the Apple and Linux fanboys wade in and turn this lounge into a place I no longer wish to visit.

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Ain’t nobody gonna win this argument. Let it rest before the Apple and Linux fanboys wade in and turn this lounge into a place I no longer wish to visit.

Sounds like a good plan Paul.

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The registry is only a glorified database with hundreds of thousands of entries. It is not searched using a linear algorithm, it is searched using a binary algorithm. A good analogy is driving down the interstate looking for exit 71. The exit signs are posted on the interstate. You don’t have to take every exit until you find one marked “71” at the end of the ramp; you drive down the interstate until you see “Exit 71” and take that ramp.
Over the lifetime of a Windows installation, many exits may be added to the interstate, but exit 71 is still exit 71.
If you have uninstalled an application that loaded on startup, and the uninstall left a startup entry in the registry you may get a “file not found” error on startup, or a noticable delay, but the machine will still boot. In the analogy, exit 71 still has a ramp, but there is no road, just a return ramp to the interstate.
Just use regedit to delete the dead-end startup entry (remove the “Exit 71” sign from the interstate) and you won’t see the error or delay again.
The registry is not some wierd voodoo magic place; it’s a database with a sophisticated search algroithm.
As I stated in an earlier post, I use Revo Uninstaller, which will examine the registry for specific entries relevent to the application being uninstalled. It will note those entries in bold, and those are safe to delete. But that is not “registry cleaning”; it is simply a thorough uninstall. For applications that are properly configured in their install/uninstall routines, Revo Uninstaller won’t find any registry entries to mark for removal.
Also, if you have uninstalled an application but it still has an entry in Windows Add/Remove Programs, Revo Uninstaller can help clean that out as well, since it starts in Add/Remove Programs.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Two overlapping threads on Registry Cleaners – one in Windows 7 & the other Windows XP – have been merged and moved to General Windows.

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I just had to jump in here, guys.

I know everyone has their own preferences about using registry utilities. As you know, it’s one of the main components of Windows. If you don’t know it (can’t name all of its keys and their function), you don’t belong in it,(my opinion)wether you’re using 3rd party software or not. I know, the majority of people here are tech savy enough to get themselves out of most jams. Not necessarily true for all of the people viewing this board and taking our advice to heart.

I would suggest to anyone spending some time at the local book store browsing the selection of registry and registry editing books available(you probably won’t find many because it’s such a complex subject). Not only will you learn about what the registry is, how it works, and how Windows supplies what you need to keep it clean and healthy(the current debate here), but the risks and consequences associated with editing it (either way) without fully understanding what you’re doing. Spend some time with the books…I don’t think you’ll be sorry.

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I’ll try one more analogy, and I’m finished.

Within a public library are hundreds of thousands of books. When a knowledgable library patron desires to check out a particular book by a particular author, the indexed library catolog is consulted to obtain the location and item number of the desired book, which is then retrieved by mapped location and presented to the librarian for checkout.

The library catolog is not searched item by item, rather its index is searched by division; fiction/nonfiction, etc. Every index classification that is not relevant is skipped by a similar method of division, loosely analogous to a binary search. Using a binary search, 1,000,000 items can be searched in no more than 20 iterations of the search algorithm. How many additional items would be required to increase the number of iterations to 21? Another million.

The information in the library catalog maps the physical location of the desired book. The information in the registry maps the physical location of a desired file. If a file has been deleted but its registry entry remains, that registry entry will not be seen by the search algorithm unless that particular file name is called for by the system. In such a case, an error is brought to your attention, and you have the opportunity to eliminate the dead entry from the registry. If the deleted file name is never called for by the system, there is no error report and there is no hit to system performance. If the application that created the file and its registry entry has been uninstalled, it is highly unlikely that that particular file name will ever be called for by the system. It is the equivalent of a library catalog entry for a missing book that no one ever asks to read.

In order for dead registry entries (that are not causing error messages) to have a negative effect on system performance, the total number of dead entries would have to approach the size of the total number of legitimate registry entries. And that performance hit amounts to the addition of one iteration of the search algorithm. Would that be noticable to the person behind the keyboard? I doubt it.

I would propose that the amount of time spent by a user to install a “registry cleaner” and run it routinely is exponentially greater than the amount of time said user would spend waiting for system response attributable to dead registry entries. Add to that the amount of time spent repairing/restoring a system broken in part or totally by the use of a “registry cleaner”, and it’s a no-brainer; they’re not worth it.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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The ultimate, and traditional, registry cleaner was to perform a clean install. If you have your installed software and updates cataloged and readily available, then you might give that a try, but if you do I suggest that you compare before-and-after performance using some benchmark or other so that you can impartially report back to this thread and let us all know if it made a difference. On reflection, it would be interesting as well to measure it immediately after and a week or so after, because Windows’ memory management tracks your usage patterns to increase efficiency.

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The arguments in this thread kind of reminds me about the debates going on with Windows Vista, except the opposite here.

Everyone didn’t like vista and was against it, and for some very good reasons too;
It was a bloated monster that required a “hefty” hardware profile to even run it straight out of the box.

Those that chose not to use it knew this, everybody knew it.

…Except those rare few who would stubbornly defend it.

We know registry cleaning utilities are a useful tool to have in ones kit. It is a fact of life that many, if not most software is poorly coded
or at best impossible to be perfectly coded. Very well coded software is hard programming work.

It matters little in this debate whether you are on Windows 98 or Windows 7. The registry isn’t designed to deal with poorly coded software
that leaves entries of itself behind. And we know these entries add up.
This is a fact: the registry has a size limit, even MS will tell you that. Although one is not likely to hit that size wall.
It still stands to reasons that the more junk entries, the more the likelyhood of system instability.

You take more of a risk purely by installing software than by using a good, well established registry cleaner.

For those of you who believe you can get by without ever needing to use a registry cleaning utility it just blows me away LOL

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For those of you who believe you can get by without ever needing to use a registry cleaning utility it just blows me away LOL

I don’t; I haven’t (except for testing); I won’t use a “registry cleaning utility”; unless of course you count Windows own Regedit as a registry cleaner, or Funduc Software’s Registry Toolkit as a registry cleaner. And I’ve been running Windows since there has been a Windows to run. I can say with utmost confidence that I will never need to use a “registry cleaning utility”.

I did some personal testing on a dual boot XP setup. With both installations using exactly the same hardware and apps, there was no noticable difference in speed or responsiveness. The only difference noted was that sooner or later the installation with the “cleaned” registry wouldn’t boot, or boot and then crash, or boot and cause applications to crash or hang.

In the parallel installation mentioned above, both installations of XP were on separate partitions, each had its own Documents and Settings partition, and both shared the same Program Files folder on a separate partition. See my website for more details on that setup. The XP installation that was spared “registry cleaning” never had any problems of any kind during the course of my testing. I follow a routine maintenance procedure that is also detailed on my website (which I will hopefully soon update to reflect dual booting XP and 7). When a poorly written uninstall routine leaves a glitch, I open Regedit and delete the entry or entries causing problems, and that’s the end of that. The comparisons I made between these two installations were with benchmarking software. There was no significant difference (>10 points in a four-figure scoring aggragate) except for one series in which the bloated registry XP installation had 0.1% higher score, which was unnoticable in my normal usage.

As for registry size limits, I haven’t hit it yet. The bloated registry XP installation mentioned above began life as Windows 95 OSR2, upgraded in place to Windows 98, upgraded in place to Windows 2000 Professional, and finally upgraded in place to Windows XP Professional. I didn’t take the bait on Vista. There were also numerous hardware upgrades in that run, with the OS being transferred to new hard drives via drive imaging. Needless to say, over the course of ten+ years there are probably thousands of orphaned registry entries, yet no discernable negative influence on system performance.

The registry is only a glorified database with hundreds of thousands of entries. It is not searched using a linear algorithm, it is searched using a binary algorithm. A good analogy is driving down the interstate looking for exit 71. The exit signs are posted on the interstate. You don’t have to take every exit until you find one marked “71” at the end of the ramp; you drive down the interstate until you see “Exit 71″ and take that ramp. Over the lifetime of a Windows installation, many exits may be added to the interstate, but exit 71 is still exit 71. If you have uninstalled an application that loaded on startup, and the uninstall left a startup entry in the registry you may get a “file not found” error on startup, or a noticable delay, but the machine will still boot. In the analogy, exit 71 still has a ramp, but there is no road, just a return ramp to the interstate. Just use regedit to delete the dead-end startup entry (remove the “Exit 71″ sign from the interstate) and you won’t see the error or delay again. The registry is not some wierd voodoo magic place; it’s a database with a sophisticated search algroithm.

The simple truth is that orphaned registry entries are never seen unless they are specifically called, and in that case they are quite simple to remove and eliminate any further problem.

I would propose that the amount of time spent by a user to install a “registry cleaner” and run it routinely is exponentially greater than the amount of time said user would spend waiting for system response attributable to dead registry entries. Add to that the amount of time spent repairing/restoring a system broken in part or totally by the use of a “registry cleaner”, and it’s a no-brainer; they’re not worth it.

A far better investment in both time and money is a comprehensive drive imaging utility used with persistant regularity for system backup. My personal preference is BootIt Next Generation, which is also a boot manager, partitioning tool, and several other quite powerful and useful tools for under $40 US. If an ill-conceived install/uninstall, power failure or other such calamity occurs, I simply restore my most recent drive image, and I’m good as new.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Guys and girls,

it’s heartbreaking that this perennial old chestnut of an issue/question keeps popping up. (It’s one of the main issue I have with Windows Secrets and commercial sites like, for instance, C-net, that they continue to help advertise, promote, make available and otherwise deal in – utterly irresponsibly in my view – the absolute snake-oil that all so-called registry ‘cleaners’, decrapifiers, defragmenters, curers and so on ad nauseam, are! Add the equally worthless and counter-productive ‘RAM optimizers’ to that and I really get angry.)

All registry “cleaners” are SNAKE OIL. They are unnecessary, often counter-productive, some very dangerous, and many are also vehicles for a raft of nasties that you certainly don’t want in your system and yet which these snake-oil salesmen want you to pay them for! ‘RegCure’ anyone? Like so-called RAM-optimizers – all of them, too – they should be outlawed or at least banished from promotions on otherwise reputable sites. Here’s why (adapted from a group to which I belong and originally written by Brian T, whose analysis has never been bettered, in my view. Brian was responding to a member’s questions) :

[A 2,900 word quotation has been moved to this attachment to enable greater thread readability]

If that doesn’t nail this discussion, once and for all, I don’t know what will.

Brian De B

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This thread has gone on long enough. There will be no resolution and unlikely to be any new point of view.

I’m locking this thread.

Joe

--Joe

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Attachment to post by Me Too

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